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Program Description

Overview The After School Achievement Program (ASAP) was founded in 1997 by the City of Houston, with the support of the Joint City/County Commission of Children and other community leaders, to provide after school programming to Houston's children and youth. The ASAP program has six goals: (1) to reduce crime committed by and against juveniles, (2) to prevent delinquency, (3) to provide a safe, supervised place for youth, (4) to provide academic enhancement and enrichment, (5) to promote school attendance and discourage school drop out, and (6) to motivate youth to develop good citizenship. The program has expanded from 7 sites in 1997 to 95 sites in 2000–2001.
Start Date 1997
Scope local
Type after school
Location urban
Setting public schools, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations
Participants elementary through middle school students
Number of Sites/Grantees 95 sites, each receiving a grant in the range of $12,650 to $40,000
Number Served 11,649 children/month (2000–2001)
Components All ASAP grantees must provide four major program components to students:

1. Academic enrichment (e.g., homework assistance, academic remediation, career awareness, and technology-based activities)
2. Personal skills development (e.g., leadership/good citizenship, team building, conflict management/violence prevention, and volunteerism)
3. Enrichment activities (e.g., recreation/sports, field trips, fine arts, and creative activities)
4. Community involvement (e.g., senior home visitations, community restoration projects, community/parental involvement, continuous feedback from teachers/parents, and adult/youth volunteerism)
Funding Level $2.3 million (2000–2001). All grantees were required to provide a “dollar for dollar” match for additional operational expenses.
Funding Sources City of Houston


Evaluation

Overview Evaluations of the ASAP program were conducted annually for four years, from 1998 through 2001. Smith et al., of the University of Houston's College of Education, carried out all evaluations, focusing on ASAP attendance, program availability and variety, crime and academic impacts, and perceptions of quality by participants, parents, and Facilitators/teachers.
Evaluators Dennis W. Smith et al., University of Houston, College of Education
Evaluations Profiled After School Achievement Program (ASAP), 1998

Great Cities Do Great Things: Year 2 Evaluation of the After School Achievement Program (ASAP), 1999

Terrific Children: A City-Wide Program to Support Communities Year 3 Evaluation of the After School Achievement Program (ASAP), 2000

Shaping our Children's Future: Keeping a Promise in Houston Communities Year 4 Evaluation of the Mayor's After-School Achievement Program (ASAP), 2001
Evaluations Planned not available
Report Availability Smith, D. W., Zhang, J. J., Cheng, E. Y., & Lam, E. T. C. (1998). After School Achievement Program (ASAP). Houston, TX: University of Houston.

Smith, D. W., Zhang, J. J., Rodriquez, A., Haynes, M., & Brimer, J. (1999). Great cities do great things: Year 2 evaluation of the After School Achievement Program (ASAP). Houston, TX: University of Houston.

Smith, D. W., Zhang, J. J., Brimer, J., & Rodriquez, A. (2000). Terrific children: A city-wide program to support communities Year 3 evaluation of the After School Achievement Program (ASAP). Houston, TX: University of Houston.

Smith, D. W., & Zhang, J. J. (2001). Shaping our children's future: Keeping a promise in Houston communities Year 4 evaluation of the Mayor's After School Achievement Program (ASAP). Houston, TX: University of Houston.


Contacts

Evaluation Dennis W. Smith
Email: dwsmith@uh.edu
Program Jennifer Brimer
Sr. Community Liaison Coordinator
After School Achievement Program
City of Houston
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX
Tel: 713-437-6981
Email: jenniferbrimer@cityofhouston.net
Profile Updated January 27, 2003

Evaluation 1: After School Achievement Program (ASAP), 1998


Evaluation Description

Evaluation Purpose To describe the first year of ASAP program operation, from January 1998 to May 1998, with respect to the following five areas: curriculum formulation, activity programs, teacher evaluations of students, parents' opinions, and student perceptions.
Evaluation Design Non-Experimental: Data were gathered from eight elementary schools and one middle school (nine of the eleven original sites). All samples were convenience samples.
Data Collection Methods Surveys/Questionnaires: Program coordinators from each school, of whom there were nine total, completed two forms: one which had them answer open-ended questions about the general program description (including program name, enrollment, general program description, duration, and specific activities to enhance academics, personal skills, enrichment options, and community involvement) and another which included open-ended questions about an average weekly lesson plan (only eight of nine completed the lesson plan).

Teachers (n=380) from six of the nine schools responded to a Likert-5 scale formatted survey about perceived program outcomes in the cognitive, affective, and social domains on their participating students.

Parents from eight of the nine schools (n=280) responded to surveys covering perceived program quality, intention to continue to send children, and suggestions.

Students (n=533) from all nine schools school responded to surveys about the pros and cons of the program.

Parent and student surveys contained both Likert-5 scale questions and open-ended questions.
Data Collection Timeframe All data were collected between March and June of 1998.


Findings:
Formative/Process Findings

Activity Implementation A total of 65 activity programs were provided by the schools relating to areas, such as academics, professional development, life skills, arts and crafts, sport/exercise, domestics, games, field trips, and social activity.

Among the most adopted programs were arts and crafts, computer class, homework/tutorial, mathematics, reading, swimming, and basketball.

Each program had one or more of the following incorporated in its content/lesson plans and class implementations: academic enhancement, personal skills, enrichment opportunities, and community involvement.
Parent/Community Involvement Of the 22% of parents responding to the question, significantly (p<.001) more parents than not, 51 versus 11, answered that they would be willing to help out with the program the following year.
Program Context/Infrastructure When asked what they would be doing if there were no after school program, 84% of students who answered this question were significantly more likely to give one of the following answers than to give other answers: stay at home, do homework, watch TV, play, hang out with friends/play outside, sleep, or do nothing.
Satisfaction Ninety-four percent of students indicated that they liked the program. There were significantly (p<.000) more students who liked the program than who did not.

Ninety percent of students indicated that they would like to attend the program next year. There were significantly (p<.000) more students who indicated that they would like to return than who did not.

When asked about what activity they liked best in the program, the 92% of students who responded to the question gave specific answers that fell into the following five categories: activity, learning, enjoyment, people, and miscellaneous.

The five most liked activities by students were: arts and crafts, dance, computer, soccer, and basketball. These five occurred significantly (p<.05) more frequently than other favorite activities.

When asked about what activity they liked least in the program, the 82% of students who responded to the question gave specific answers that fell into the following five categories: disliked activity, disliked management, disliked work, disliked in general, and disliked nothing. Eighty students disliked nothing.

The five least-liked activities by students were: arts and crafts, homework, dance, piano, and pet care. These five occurred significantly (p<.05) more frequently than other least-liked activities.

When asked what activities they would like to do next year, the 92% of students who responded to that item gave specific answers in the following eight categories: arts and crafts, physical activity, academics, domestics, game/video, field trip, social group, and miscellaneous.

Of the artistic activities students said they would like to do next year, significantly (p<.05) more students said dance, arts and crafts, and piano as compared to other artistic activities.

Of the physical activities students said they would like to do next year, significantly (p<.05) more students mentioned basketball, cheerleading, swimming, and soccer as compared to other physical activities.

Of the academic activities students said that they would like to do next year, significantly (p<.05) more students said computer/Internet as compared to other academic activities.

When asked what they would change about the program, the 89% of students who responded to this item gave specific answers in the following six categories: program, food/beverage, schedule, facility/equipment, staff, and management. The most frequent responses, significantly (p<.05) more frequent than other responses, were a desire for more and better snacks and longer program time. More than 100 students said that they liked the current programs and would change nothing.

Parents were strongly supportive of the programs. In other words, the mean scores for all the Likert 5-scale satisfaction items were significantly (p<.05) greater than 3 (neutral). And when asked to provide a 5-scale overall rating of the program, the mean response was 4.48.

Using a Likert 3-scale, over 90% of parents indicated that they would recommend the program to other parents.

When asked what they would change about the program, the 61% of parents who responded to this item gave specific answers in the following four categories: program, participation, schedule, and personnel.

When asked what the best thing about the after school program was, the 70% of parents who responded to this item gave specific answers in the following seven categories: cognitive/skill development, affective/behavioral development, extracurricular activity, safety and something to do, positive evaluation, operational excellence, and constructive suggestions.

When asked about what their children say about the after school program, the 71% of parents who responded to this item gave specific answers in the following three categories: positive evaluation, future intention, and complaints, of which there were only two. The response rate and comments suggest that children enjoyed the program and intended to participate in a similar program in the future.


Summative/Outcome Findings

Academic Teachers perceived students to have made substantial cognitive improvements as a result of participation in the after school programs. On the Likert 5-scale, the mean scores on the cognitive improvement items were significantly (p<.05) greater than 3 (neutral).
Youth Development Teachers perceived students to have made great progress in the affective and behavioral domains as a result of participation in the after school programs. In other words, the mean scores on the affective and behavioral improvement survey items were significantly (p<.05) greater than 3 (neutral).

Teachers perceived significant (p<.05) differences in impact for differently aged children. Teachers of sixth graders reported the most substantial improvements, compared to all other grades, in cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains. Kindergarten and first graders, according to their teachers, were reported to receive more benefits from the program than second and fifth graders, according to their teachers, respectively.

When asked what they had learned through program participation, the 83% of students who responded to this item gave specific answers in the following eight categories: general, affective, academics and skills, arts/crafts, sports, recreation, professional ability, and living skills. There were significantly (p<.05) greater frequencies for the following specific answers: a lot of good things, fun/cool stuff, reading, math, computer, English, dance, and arts/crafts.

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